Branch of wound plastic ribbon for artificial christmas trees

ABSTRACT

Branch for artificial Christmas tree in which a metal rod having a slit extending across the top of the rod receives the end of a bead of a needled ribbon of plastic or metal foil wound about the rod in the general form of the spiral from the top to the bottom of the rod. The ribbon has a narrow bead extending along one side of the ribbon and fitting into a slot in the rod and wound about the rod and bent relative to the plane of the needled ribbon to place a twist in the needles of the ribbon when wound spirally about the rod. The needles of the ribbon are formed in side-byside relation by slits extending transversely of the bend and at equal leading angles relative to the bead. The ends of the needles are forked by slitting from the ends thereof to increase the appearance of fullness of the branch.

United States Patent [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS3,056,223 10/1962 Crane 156/257 X Primary Examiner-Philip DierAttorney-Hill, Sherman, Meroni, Gross & Simpson ABSTRACT: Branch forartificial Christmas tree in which a metal rod having a slit extendingacross the top of the rod receives the end of a bead of a needled ribbonof plastic or metal foil wound about the rod in the general form of thespiral from the top to the bottom of the rod. The ribbon has a narrowbead extending along one side of the ribbon and fitting into a slot inthe rod and wound about the rod and bent relative to the plane of theneedled ribbon to place a twist in the needles of the ribbon when woundspirally about the rod. The needles of the ribbon are formed inside-hy-side relation by slits extending transversely of the bend and atequal leading angles relative to the bead. The ends of the needles areforked by slitting from the ends thereof to increase the appearance offullness of the branch.

BRANCH OF WOUND PLASTIC RIBBON FOR ARTIFICIAL CHRISTMAS TREES BACKGROUNDOF THE INVENTION Artificial Christmas trees have heretofore beenconstructed by slitting a ribbon of metal foil perpendicularly to beadextending along one edge of the ribbon. The bead has then been woundspirally about arod, serving as a branch for the tree, with the slitportions of the ribbon simulating needles and extending from the rod.Assembled branches are then inserted in a post forming a trunk for thetree and may be of various lengths to provide an artificial tree of thedesired contour. Such a tree and method of making the branches of thetree is shown in my prior US. Pat. No. 2,889,650, dated June 9, 1959.

While such trees have been generally satisfactory and provide a goodsimulation of a natural tree, it has been difficult to attain thedesired appearance of fullness of branches due to the fact that whilethe slitting of the ribbon is intended to place a twist on the needles,the needles actually extend perpendicular to the bead of the ribbon,giving an artificial appearance, even where two ribbons are wound abouta rod in lapping relatron.

SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The present invention improves uponthe prior art artificial Christmas tree branches made from a plastic ormetal foil ribbon, by slitting the ribbon at an angle relative to thebead, so the outer ends of the needles will lead the bead, and byslitting the ends of the needles to provide forked end portions of theneedles to give the appearance of fullness of the branch. The head ofthe ribbon is also bent relative to the planes of the needles along aline extending longitudinally of the ribbon during the slittingoperation, to cooperate with the leading angles of the needles andincrease the twist of the needles.

A principal object of the present invention, therefore, is to increasethe fullness of artificial Christmas tree branches, in which the needlesare simulated by a slit ribbon having a narrow bead wound about a rod,by slitting the ends of the needles and inclining the needles to leadthe bead of the ribbon.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved Christmas treebranch in which a ribbon of plastic material is transversely slit atuniform intervals for the length thereof to a narrow bead spirally woundabout a rod, in which the appearance of fullness of the branch issimulated by inclining the needles at leading angles relative to thebead of the ribbon, by bending the head of the ribbon relative to theplane of the needles, prior to spirally winding the ribbon about itsrod, and by slitting the ends of the individual needles to give a forkedand full appearance to the needles.

These and other objects of the invention will appear from time to timeas the following specification proceeds and with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation of aChristmas tree branch constructed in accordance with the principles ofthe present invention, showing the branch in a partially assembledstate;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side view of the rod for the branch, showing thehead of a slit .ribbon in a slot extending across the rod at theinitiation of the operation of winding the ribbon about the branch, andillustrating the tilt of the needles rela tive to the head of theribbon; and

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a ribbon prior to winding about a rod andillustrating the ends of the needles of the ribbon slit to form forkedends of the ribbon.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF INVENTION In the embodiment ofthe invention illustrated in the drawings, 1 have shown in FIGS. 1 and2, a rod having a slot I1 extending diametrically across the end thereofand receiving a bead 12 of a ribbon l3, slit as indicated by referencecharacter 15 to form a plurality of individual needles 16 extendinglaterally of the bead 12. The bead l2 holds the slit ribbon together asa unit and is wound about the rod 10.

The ribbon 13 may be made from a flexible material having sufficientbody to maintain its general shape when slit, and to accommodate thebead to be bend relative to the plane of the slit portion of the ribbon,as shown in FIG. 2, and may be a plastic ribbon or a metal foil ribbonof a selected color, which usually comes in rolls. As for example, agreen or white tree may be constructed from a thin plastic ribbon of therequired color, while a metallic tree may be constructed from a suitablemetal foil. The plastic may be a vinyl resin, or any other suitableplastic.

The ribbon may be fed from its roll and transversely slit to the narrowbead 12 to form needlelike members 16 of equal width throughout thelength of the ribbon. The slitting of the ribbon to form the needles maybe attained in a manner similar to that shown and described in my US.Pat. No. 3,067,796 and is no part of the present invention so need notherein be shown or described in detail. One material difference in theforming of the needles over that of my US. Pat. No. 3,067,797 is thatthe ribbon is slit at an acute angle with respect to the longitudinaledge of the head, which may be of the order of between 78 and Thispositions the needles to lead the bead 12 at angle A which may be from12 to 5". An angle of 'lead in the order of 10 has been found to be asatisfactory angle of lead.

In forming the needles, during the slitting operation and as acontinuation of the forming operation, the bead may be bent relative tothe plane of the body or needles of the ribbon by the slitter or by asuitable rolling arrangement, or by any other well-known means, placinga bend between the bead and needles at an angle B, as shown in FIG. 2.The angle of bend of the bead may be of the order of 10 relative to avertical line extending along one side of the head, as indicated in FIG.2. This bending of the bead relative to needles places a twist on theneedles when spirally wound around the rod 10, which thereby enhancesthe appearance of fullness of the branch.

During the operation of slitting the ribbon to form the needles 16, theends of the needles are slit as indicated by reference character 17 inFIGS. 1 and 2. In these figures, the slits are along the centers of theneedles to provide forked end portions of the needles, furtherincreasing the appearance of fullness of the branch. The slitting of theends of the needles may be carried out during the operation of slittingthe ribbon to form the needles, by a slitting blade in addition to theblade slitting the ribbon in the form of needles. The additional blademay act in cooperation with the blade for slitting the needles and maybe stationary while the blade for slitting the needles may be movable orthe blade may move with the blade for slitting the needles incooperation with a stationary mandrel. The mechanism for slitting theneedles and bending the bead relative to the needles is no part of thepresent invention so need not herein be shown or described further.

In FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, I have shown the needles slit at 17along the centers of the needles to provide double tined forked ends ofthe needles. In FIG. 3, I have shown each needle slit from its end byparallel slits 19 to provide three tined forked ends of the needles. Anynumber of slits may be provided, but due to the narrow width of eachneedle, it is not practical to provide more than three tined forked endsfor the needles.

In forming the branch, a slit ribbon I3, slit to position the needles I6to lead the bead 12, as the needles extend outwardly of the bead, inwhich the bead is inserted at one end of the ribbon in the slot 11.Prior to insertion of the end of the bead of the ribbon in the slot ll,the rod may be coated with adhesive, either adjacent its opposite ends,or for substantially the full-length of the rod. The rod is usually in avertical position during winding of the ribbon thereon and may be heldat its lower end in the chuck of a spinner, spinning the rod to effectwinding of the ribbon spirally along the rod under the control of thehand. The end of the ribbon, at the lower end of the rod, may then betaped or stapled to the rod in cooperation with the adhesive, tomaintain the ribbon tightly wound about the rod, with the needles 16extending therefrom and of a generally spiral form, as shown in FIG. 1.

The wound rods may then be inserted in drilled holes in a vertical post,forming the trunk of the tree (not Shown) and inclined at a selectedangle relative to the vertical, as shown in my US. Pat. No. 2,889,650,and no part of the present invention so not herein shown or describedfurther.

it should here be for an that while i have shown only one ribbonspirally wound about the rod along the head 12 of the ribbon, a doublethickness of ribbon may be wound about the rod, if desired, to furtherincrease the appearance of fullness of the branch. It has been found,however, that the slitting of the ends of the needles and inclining theneedles to lead the bead as well as the bending of the bead relative tothe needles is sufficient to create the desired appearance of fullnessto the branch and that two ply strips are not usually desirable, exceptunder special circumstances.

While I have herein shown and described one form in which the inventionmay be embodied, it may be understood that various variations andmodifications in the invention may be attainedwithout departing from thespirit and scope of the novel concepts thereof.

I claim:

1. A branch construction for artificial Christmas tree comprising,

a rod,

a needled ribbon having a narrow bead extending along one side thereof,and having inner and outer longitudinal margins and wound along said rodin a helical path, said ribbon having a plurality of parallel equallyspaced slits extending transversely of said bead and terminating at theinner longitudinal margin of said bead and forming the needles of theribbon,

the outer ends of said needles being slit to provide forked ends for theneedles to enhance the appearance of fullness of the branch, and theequally spaced slits forming said needles being inclined at an acuteangle relative to the edge of said bead at equal leading angles in therange of between 5 and 12 relative to a line extending perpen' dicularto the longitudinal inner margin of said bead.

2. A branch construction in accordance with claim ll, wherein theneedles are bent relative to the plane of the bead substantially alongthe inner margin thereof, to place a spiral twist on the needles.

3. The branch construction of claim 1,

wherein the rod has a slit extending thereacross and opening to the endthereof and receiving an extreme leading end of the bead and cooperatingtherewith to retain the bead thereto, as wound about said rod.

4. An elongated ribbon adapted to be helically wound along a rod tosimulate a needled Christmas tree branch comprising,

a bead extending along one side of the ribbon and having outer and innerlongitudinal margins,

a plurality of slits in the ribbon extending transversely of the bead tosaid inner longitudinal margin of said head and forming the needles ofthe ribbon,

said slits being parallel and equally spaced and inclined at an acuteangle relative to a line perpendicular to the longitudinal inner marginof the head to lead the head at an acute angle in the range of between 5and 12 relative to the perpendicular line,

said ribbon being bent relative to the plane of the bead along saidlongitudinal inner margin for the length thereof.

5. The ribbon of claim 4,

wherein the ribbon has slits extending along the needles equal distancesbetween the slits extending transversely of the bead, and providingforked ends for the needles.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent -3,607,586Dated September 21, 1971 Inventor(s) Chester Peter Hankus It iscertified that error appears in the above-identified patent and thatsaid Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Please add the following references, which were cited in the firstaction from the Patent Office:

3,477, 897 11/69 H nkus Cl. 161/24xr 2, 893, 149 7/59 Reece et a1 Cl.161/24 3, 020, 660 2/62 Scherotto Cl. 161/24xr 708,727 5/65 Hankus(Canada) Cl.161/22 Column 1, line 6, after "to insert --a.

Column 2, line 7, change "bend" to bent-;

line 20, change "3, 067, 796" to 3, 067, 797.

Column 3, line 7, change "(not Shown)" to (not shown)":

line 11, change "for an" to -understand.

Signed and sealed this 10th day of October 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLE'ICHER,JR. ROBERT GO'ITSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissionerof Patents

2. A branch construction in accordance with claim 1, wherein the needlesare bent relative to the plane of the bead substantially along the innermargin thereoF, to place a spiral twist on the needles.
 3. The branchconstruction of claim 1, wherein the rod has a slit extendingthereacross and opening to the end thereof and receiving an extremeleading end of the bead and cooperating therewith to retain the beadthereto, as wound about said rod.
 4. An elongated ribbon adapted to behelically wound along a rod to simulate a needled Christmas tree branchcomprising, a bead extending along one side of the ribbon and havingouter and inner longitudinal margins, a plurality of slits in the ribbonextending transversely of the bead to said inner longitudinal margin ofsaid bead and forming the needles of the ribbon, said slits beingparallel and equally spaced and inclined at an acute angle relative to aline perpendicular to the longitudinal inner margin of the bead to leadthe bead at an acute angle in the range of between 5* and 12* relativeto the perpendicular line, said ribbon being bent relative to the planeof the bead along said longitudinal inner margin for the length thereof.5. The ribbon of claim 4, wherein the ribbon has slits extending alongthe needles equal distances between the slits extending transversely ofthe bead, and providing forked ends for the needles.